Code of Silence

Any fans of Ralph Macchio in the 1984’s Karate Kid? (And along with his New York/Italian accent, “Stay green, golden boy” and “I killed the clerk? I killed the clerk?” from his other classics.)

Karate Kid has nothing to do with the first five pages of Code of Silence… but it was my initial image as I read the first sentence:

“Cooper’s leering opponent inched closer, fists raised and ready to strike.”

I don’t know about you, but when I read that first sentence, I had a huge smile on my face, let out a squeal and already knowing this was a book boy middle grade boys, my mind whirled: “Oh my gosh, what is this?! Is he standing up to a bully at recess? Is he part of the wrestling team at school??”

And then:

“Fists raised? … Umm, I don’t know sports. Is there a boxing team at school?”

But I had an image. And I had read only one sentence!!!

So far, so good!

And then I read further:

“ ‘He’s moving in for the kill, Coop,’ Gordy said.

Cooper didn’t budge. C’mon, you big moron. He tapped the joystick. One more step.

The muscled fighter advanced. Swinging the control stick, Cooper drummed the punch and kick buttons on the arcade video game.

‘Yes!’ Gordy thumped Cooper on the back. ‘Nice move!’”

As I read the second line, Gordy became Mr. Miyagi standing outside the ring, arms crossed, with his occasion grunt and nod.

And, I’ll be honest, I got stuck on “joystick” in the third line. I don’t know sports (or video games, duh) and had to backtrack the three lines to the beginning of the chapter.

And here I was, thinking: Okay, so this is a sport in school… where sometimes you raise fists… and sometimes you use a… a… something like a hockey stick?!?“

(This is why I normally don’t write “first impressions” to the novels I read! Hahaha! Slightly embarrassing.)

At this point in the book, I got a bunch of impressions:

• Shoemaker leaps into action at the first sentence. Wowza. “Ohh… the first sentence as the ‘hook.’ I see…”

(Thank you, Shoemaker for spelling it out a few seconds later as an “arcade video game.”)

But an image at the get-go (even if it’s super wrong because the not-intended audience picked up your book!) is a must.

No description. No explanation. Just action that grips and pulls the reader in.

Also, I noted:

• I’m lovin’ the voice. The “American” dialect. Shorter, cut-up sentences. It’s how Denise Hunter writes too. It’s how I (attempt?) to write. Not only are the sentences shorter and dynamic, but there’s also less of them.

And I know this is going to a fun, easy read. Fast, punchy. Lots of action (so far…).

After a chuckle, I read a bit more. Learned that Gordy is Cooper’s cousin, who is thirteen like him, but has had a growth spurt, while Cooper hasn’t yet.

(Ooh, some desire, some longing, some misgiving of the protagonist. Life isn’t so grand. I like it!)

Here’s another point that I noticed and liked:

• Each character is given time to get a good impression in the mind of the reader before introducing a new character. With a dash of bread crumbs. Mystery. Grief.

And four characters are introduced in two pages! Complete with last names and physical descriptions and bits of history. Aka, a complete picture.

Then, I decided to look at the cover a bit, admire the imagery of three boys on bikes and under the title is this sentence, “2013 Top Ten Mystery for Young Adults—School Library Review.”

My heart stopped.

Mystery?

Young Adult?!

Oh, rats! I put the book down and sulked. Because I thought I was reading a middle grade adventure story. Another Curse of Purgatory Cove by O’Donnell. (See my review of O’Donnell’s debut book here Curse of Purgatory Cove:A4A.)

And here I was trying to avoid a Stephen King novel…

So, I stopped reading. That was two nights ago. And I’m a bit terrified to read beyond page 5.

But I plan on finishing the book in the daylight hours. Until next time, “Living a lie comes with a price.” Oh wait, that’s the tagline to Code of Silence.

The back cover is even more chilly: “Telling the truth could get them killed. Remaining silent could be worse.”

I meant to say: “Until next time, stay posted!” Although I won’t be sharing any more joystick-moments. Not anytime soon 😉

* goosebumps *

January’s theme of this book club is to read a book from a genre I’ve never yet read. Which genre have you yet to get your hands on? Are you willing to?

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